


A Moment to Breathe

by RayneSummer



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, is mentioned, many words of minor h/c fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-29
Updated: 2016-06-29
Packaged: 2018-07-19 01:24:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7338910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RayneSummer/pseuds/RayneSummer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After being chucked out of the underground passage by the exploding mummies, scaring one another half to death, and sharing a single kiss, Nate and Elena finally get a moment to breathe before going after Sam.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Moment to Breathe

**Author's Note:**

> This was meant to be 500-1000 words of minor hurt/comfort fluff and it turned into over 1500 words of aggressively adorable OTP with a healthy dose of h/c. and I regret nothing.

“Good talk.”

Elena gazed at him as he tapped her chin fondly. “Good talk,” she agreed, her voice soft.

Nate smiled back and they simultaneously leaned in for another passionate kiss. Their lips met as Elena shifted just slightly on top of him and amongst the aches in his body, pain flared at his side.

“ _Ahh-!_ ” At Nate’s short cry of pain, Elena immediately drew back, taking her weight completely off him and moving into a sitting position. She watched in concern as Nate struggled to sit up as well, scanning for any obvious injuries before having to ask.

Nothing serious caught her eye, aside from the nasty gash on his forehead – something she planned to get checked out later despite any protests.

“What is it?” Elena asked in worry, shuffling to her knees with a hand on his shoulder.

In reply, Nate looked down, wincing as he placed exactly what hurt so bad. He carefully lifted the hem of his shirt, exposing a mess of wooden splinters peppered into his left side. “Ah.”

Elena blinked at him. “‘Ah’?” She repeated mildly, already leaning forward to check the wounds with capable fingers. “I guess you were too close to one of those mummies after all.”

“Guess so.” Nate grimaced as she began pulling out the smallest bits of wood and leant back on his hands, leaving Elena to it.

Adrenalin had been pushing him through the caves, explaining why he wouldn’t have noticed such an impact after one of the explosions, but now – and especially after Elena’s fake-out – he felt drained, exhausted, and tired.

And _hurt_. Everything ached; his head thumped painfully along with his heart, the injury often making him dizzy and sick while they had made their way through New Devon.

Elena yanked out a bigger splinter piece and Nate yelped, thoughts interrupted. He automatically tried to curl into himself, shielding his stinging stomach, and Elena put her hands on his shoulders to ease him back.

“Sorry, sorry,” she said hastily as he pulled back, wincing. “Should’ve told you I was moving on to the big ones.”

He slowly resumed his previous position, panting a bit in pain. “Mmm. Probably.”

“Talking of,” she continued, glancing back at the wound site, “most of the blood’s from a pretty big one, but I don’t know how deep it is…”

She trailed off, brows furrowed in worry as she examined the fair-sized bit of wood sticking out of Nate’s side. Thankfully it didn’t turn underneath his skin towards his stomach or other organs, but moreso looked as if it almost reached right through his side like a hole-punch.

Nate squinted at it, vaguely surprised he hadn’t felt that while they were running – or, well, at any point really. But then again; adrenalin. At least he supposed.

“It’s kind of like…” He absently stared at the sky, feeling the tugging pains as Elena experimentally tried to check exactly how to take it out. “Like a bullet,” he offered, letting his eyes close for a moment. Shit, he was tired.

She hummed in response, focused on the injury. It had to come out, but it looked worryingly deep, not to mention infection risks and everything.

So, yeah; like what a bullet would cause. “I suppose,” Elena mused, giving the wood a slightly sharper tug to see if speed trumped caution.

It refused to be removed quickly. She blew out a breath and glanced at Nate’s face; still pale and drawn, the head injury standing out, but now his eyes were closed. She was gripped by a sudden fear.

“Nate!” Elena said sharply, jostling him a little.

He jerked awake, straightening his arms and leaning back on them. “Yeah, yep, still here.”

“You sure?” Elena looked at him seriously. “I’d rather you passed out while we’re not being shot at.”

His answering chuckle was a little weak for reassurance, but it was an effort. “I’m okay.” She just raised an eyebrow. “Well, mostly,” Nate reiterated, nodding vaguely at the mess of skin and wood at his side.

“Hm.” She didn’t agree with his diagnostics but left it for the time being, and looked back at the huge splinter, mind coming to the only conclusion it could right now.

Elena heaved a sigh. “I’m just going to pull it out,” she decided, even as she glanced at Nate’s already pale face. But they didn’t have long here in this moment of peace, and he couldn’t carry on with a bit of wood sticking out of his side.

Filing the wound under ‘get checked ASAP afterwards’ and promptly adding it to her addition mental ‘major injuries’ list, she prepared to drag the bit of wood out of his body.

“Ready?”

He nodded, biting his lip, and Elena took a breath. “One,” she started calmly, already feeling Nate beginning to tense. “Two…”

She yanked as hard as she could to dislodge it and deafened her ears to Nate’s string of curses as she continued pulling it out. Thankfully it wasn’t quite as long as she’d thought and it soon came free of his body.

The now open wound began to leak blood in protest, and still ignoring her husband’s pained sounds and harsh breathing, she quickly fished the handkerchief out of his pocket and pressed it against the wound.

Nate groaned and she finally looked at his pale face, concerned. “Alright?”

The expression Elena got in return was incredulous and she reiterated; “Just, don’t move for a bit, okay, I still gotta finish this off.”

He simply huffed in reply. She resisted rolling her eyes and considered the few smallish splinters left.

With one hand holding the blood-stained handkerchief over the bleeding injury, she made careful work of the rest of the wood, easing them out and tossing them away.

Once what she could see was removed, Elena examined his side again. It looked a little better now it didn’t consist of sticking out bits of wood, but not great.

“Hm. That’ll do,” she muttered and dabbed at other spots of welling blood before leaning back to observe the mess of jagged wounds.

Nate pushed himself forward a bit more, wincing as he tried to look at his side. “Damn.”

Despite everything, Elena found herself laughing at his tone of voice.

“You said it,” she agreed, smiling, and gently pulled his top back down over the cuts, satisfied with her field ministrations – until they got the hell out of here and Nate was checked over properly, obviously.

She sighed deeply as she just looked at her husband. He was covered in sweat, mud, dirt, blood and anything else he and Sam had stumbled across on their little adventure.

Nate frowned a little at her expression and sat up properly, ignoring the pain, so he could reach out a hand to stroke her cheek.

“Hey,” he said softly, “It’s okay. We’re fine and once we get Sam we’re all gonna leave this place behind.”

She smiled, leaning her face into his palm, and brought her hands up to cover his. “Yeah. I know.”

Her voice was barely more than a whisper over the wind. It was if the entire land had gone quiet after the explosions, and given them a chance to breathe.

Slowly, Elena leant towards Nate, half closing her eyes. His reassurance was good, but the feeling of his skin on hers was an anchor.

But he stopped before their lips met. He was looking into her eyes as if searching and she stared back patiently.

Nate swallowed, almost nervously. “’Lena,” he whispered, and she could feel his hot breath against her skin. “…I love you.”

For a moment, Elena felt the words take her by the throat, but they weren’t meant as a weapon and no matter what else Nate had ever done, he had never, ever, used them as such.

She searched his face with her eyes, finding such a mix of emotions rarely opened; sorrow, grief, love, … hope.

And it was his eyes that spoke the most. They weren’t begging for forgiveness or clouded with lies. They were honest and true, and in that moment, Elena knew her Nate again.

He was hers, as she was his. Partners. Lovers. For better, or for worse. Together.

“Love you too,” she murmured against his lips, and he brought a hand up to caress her hair as they kissed, gently stroking the blonde locks in grateful relief.

They parted for breath, gazing almost unbelievably at each other, as if they could barely realise how lucky they were to have one another.

Nate moved his hand down to her shoulder, her fingers calloused and rough against her smooth skin. Then an explosion boomed distantly.

After a pause, Elena withdrew from his embrace, looking towards where light shone in as if searching for where it had come from.

“That’s gotta be Sam,” Nate said, urgency returning to voice and limbs as he moved to get up. She just nodded, a step ahead of him; straightening up, she offered a hand with a smile.

He pulled himself to his feet with Elena’s help, staggering only a little as he became accustom to his aching body being upright again. “Thanks,” he grunted as he tried to stretch a little, wincing at his back.

She nodded, watching him. “You sure you’re okay to move on?”

Nate sniffed, shrugged, and gave her a lopsided smile reserved for remarks between them. The sun lit their faces.

“Nothing that won’t get better.”

Elena smiled that smile that lit Nate’s entire world.

“Let’s go.”

**Author's Note:**

> what are endings?? we will never know! Hope it's good and I never tire of these two most beautiful beings together. That is all.


End file.
